Lanka, Singapore to ink MoU on bilateral trade

As Sri Lankan and Singapore business chambers ink a landmark MoU in Colombo today(30) Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Industry and Commerce of Sri Lanka has hailed it saying that it is more than a bilateral trade event.

“This MoU is not only a milestone in our bilateral trade, but also a historic B2B linkage between two promising business hubs in Asia and as a result, it’s a momentous trade event for the overall region” Minister Bathiudeen said.

The visiting Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia and Pacific Affairs Abbas Araghchi who made a courtesy call on Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Industry and Commerce,sips a cup of Pure Ceylon Tea during a presentation at the Ministry of Industry & Commerce

On 30 May, the first ever signing of Memorandum of Understanding between the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and the Sri Lanka - Singapore Business Council will be signed followed by the first ever Sri Lanka – Singapore Business Forum at Galadari Hotel, ushering in a new era in historic bilateral relations between both countries.

 “As for the business forum, it’s the first of this nature in our bilateral trade history but more importantly, it is a milestone in our trade since it shows that our business to business level linkages too have grown considerably, thereby showing the importance of our fourth largest international trade partner” says Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Industry and Commerce.

Welcoming K Shanmugam, the Foreign Minister and the Law Minister of Singapore, the Sri Lankan Minister said: “The fact that K. Shanmugam being accompanied by a strong business delegation involving small, medium and large scales alone holds promise for our bilateral trade with Singapore which is now at $ 1.85 Billion. Such forward looking initiatives will strongly stimulate any unrealised trade potential between the two economies and will also help us to advance towards $ 20 billion export target by 2020”.

The event is organised by the Sri Lanka-Singapore Business Council of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce to coincide the visit of Foreign Minister of Singapore K. Shanmugam from 26 May to 2 June. Shanmugam will accompany a high-powered delegation from the Singapore Business Federation.

“We have closed registrations for the ‘Sri Lanka Singapore Business Forum’ much earlier than we originally expected due to the huge demand for participation from the Sri Lankan private sector” revealed Shamil Mendis, President of the Sri Lanka-Singapore Business Council. “The Forum will be followed by a B2B meeting session based on one-to-one interactions taking place between the Sri Lankan and Singaporean representatives” said Mendis who led a 14 member Sri Lankan business delegation to Singapore in 2010 June, successfully linking them up with no less than 160 Singapore firms of all three scales.